+ free virtual eventΝβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ Νβ€Œ 
RenΓ©e Camila - Herbalism and Birthwork in Mount Shasta, California
 

CULTURE WORK

Hola Amores,

Culture work is resistance. It is a celebration. It means practicing traditional medicine. It means recognizing that cultural resilience requires us to take action. It means understanding that access to culture is parallel to liberation struggles.

Culture work is heart work. It’s coming home. It’s ancestral.

Despite what dominant culture projects, whiteness is not the same thing as white people. Whiteness is a wash. Whiteness is an amalgamation of peoples with the intent to dominate others, not to celebrate the uniqueness of the individuals that it comprises. Whiteness itself does not have a culture. While light skin is absolutely more privileged, whiteness itself is a construct and a significant tool within systems of oppression.

When we turn towards our cultural practices, we turn towards ourselves. So many of us feel disconnected from our traditions. One of the underlying motivations I see in the harmful perpetuation of cultural appropriation is a desire to reconnect to meaning.

In turning towards our lineages we open up the possibility to re-indigenize and to liberate ourselves from the constraints of white supremacy, no matter our race.

Culture work is at the heart of the organizing we’re doing at Seeds of Ancestral Renewal (SOAR). It is at the heart of the upcoming events we are hosting (see Circles of Care below).

Culture work is also what is driving our Indigenous movements to free Palestine. Because we cannot stand by and witness the continued attempt to erase a peoples, a land, a culture.

Next month I’m offering my Healing Insecurity workshop again. All of these things are connected. Culture work informs our liberation movements which in turn influences our self-worth.

Let’s reclaim our self-worth together for the sake of our ancestors.

Photo by Marcela LucΓ­a Ramirez
 

CIRCLES OF CARE

Next week my comadres and I are hosting a virtual event. This is one of four bilingual wellness gatherings we are offering with the generous support of the California Arts Council and in partnership with the Promotores de Salud of Northern California. All events are free.

This is the only virtual gathering and so a great opportunity to participate if you are interested in joining us but aren’t local.

These gatherings are called β€œCircles of Care: Promoting Wellness Through Art and Tradition”. The theme for this upcoming circle is self-worth and restorative justice with special guests Niria Alicia and Ramona Garcia.

During this event we will offer problem solving strategies through the arts that recognize how toxic behavior is rooted in colonization and systems of oppression.

We are also doing a giveaway for one of Ramona’s dope dolls! Learn more and enter the raffle here.

Registration is limited so sign up soon if you’d like to join us. If you register but are unable to attend, please let us know so that we can open up that space to someone else.
 Join Us 
 

PLANTITA SPOTLIGHT
Brenda MontaΓ±o Zines with Sol

Skullcap flower

Skullcap for Susto. Skullcap for shock. Skullcap for fear.

Skullcap for reactivity. Skullcap for the righteous outrage we feel while witnessing genocide. Skullcap for soothing the helplessness as we attempt to grasp the reality that our tax dollars are funding the colonial β€œIsrael” project.

Skullcap for deep nourishment for our nervous systems. Skullcap for an ability to cope. Skullcap for nightmares (at any age).

If you want to learn more about this medicine, I dedicated an hour to Skullcap on the Herbal Highway last year. Stream or download that episode here.

Dosage: For deep nourishment take a dropperful 1-3 times a day of the fresh plant tincture. Reach out if you’re looking for some. Otherwise, dried herb for tea is also enriching (and also a bit sedative).
 

NICARAGUA

With my first born overlooking a volcanic lake in Nicaragua

I closed out the year in Nicaragua, where my family is from. I hadn’t been since the start of the pandemic and it was the longest I’ve ever been away.

A lot has changed in four years. The dictatorship has strengthened its totalitarianism. I’m honestly still processing some of what I experienced but what is clear is how urgent it is for us to make choices that may disrupt our comfort if it means that choice may contribute towards our prayer for collective liberation.

May we practice what we preach.

Con amor,
RenΓ©e

PS. I recently watched Frybread Face and Me on Netflix and loved it.

PPS. If you’re growing tired of the limitations of streaming movie sites, check out Le Cinema Club. They offer one free film per week and lately they’ve had really moving Palestinian films.

PPPS. Sam and I at Now and Then Herb School have scheduled the dates for our upcoming programs. Take a peak if you’re curious about joining us.
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La Yerba Buena Herbs
203 Pine Ridge Avenue
Mount Shasta, CA, 96067
United States

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